SHAMBHALA SUN MARCH 2010
38
At A weeklong meditAtion session
one year, i think it was 1968, my teacher
suzuki Roshi lectured about how to prac-
tice Zen. “Zen,” he said, “is feeling your way along in
the dark. You might think it would be better to have
more light, to know where you are going, and to get
there in a hurry, but Zen is feeling your way along in
the dark. then you are careful and sensitive to what
is happening.”
later i asked him (young man that i was),
“Hmm, feeling my way along in the dark... now
that the program is over, what if we have a party?”
“if you do it with that spirit, it will be perfectly
okay,” he said.
“wonderful,” i thought, and started to get up from
kneeling in front of him, when his voice brought my
movement to an abrupt halt. “The most important
point is... ” and he paused, while i prompted myself
to listen intently as the words slowly came out, “is to
find out... what is... the most important point.” And
i thought he was going to tell me! only he had—and
years later i continue to investigate this.
one of the places where i have studied this is in
the kitchen. when we’re cooking, what is the most
Mindful cooking is not detached or subdued, says Edward Espe Brown.
It’s cooking with your whole being engaged—mind, body, and emotions.
And remember, it’s better when you’re feeling your way in the dark
and asking what is the most important point.
Let Your Passion Cook
Mindful living
in the kitchen
pHotobYdAvescHoenwAld
important point? As a meditator there are many
ready-made answers: being mindful, being silent,
watching your mind, being calm and peaceful. All
well and good. but did anyone say, preparing food?
or, feeling your way along in the dark? we do well to
study how we do what we are doing, and ask our-
selves, What is the most important point?
“be mindful in the kitchen while you work,”
people often say. perhaps useful, but unfortunately
the word is overused, and often inaccurately. when
people do not pick up after themselves, they are
not being mindful. when they are gossiping while
cooking, that’s not mindful. in other words, when
someone is not doing what they should, they are
not being mindful. so be mindful becomes do it
right, the way you are supposed to.
i’m not sure, but i think that being mindful is to
experience your experience without judging good
or bad, right or wrong. being mindful in this fash-
ion, you might notice dishes, crumbs, or scraps on
what was formerly a clean surface—and this could
be followed by choosing how to respond. say-
ing that the people who left those items were not
mindful is another way of saying they are bad, that